LAHORE: As many as 1,018 students were awarded degrees and medals at the 131st convocation of the Punjab University on Saturday.

For the first time in the history of any university in Pakistan, the PU has produced 327 PhDs in one year. As many as 87 MS/MPhil, 76 Master’s and 67 undergraduate medals and four prizes were distributed among the graduates.

Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar chaired the convocation.

Punjab Senior Minister Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed, PU Vice Chancellor Prof Niaz Ahmad, Pro-VC Prof Dr Saleem Mazhar, Registrar & Controller Rauf Nawaz, and a large number of graduates and their parents participated in the event.

Mr Sarwar congratulated the graduates, saying that they could achieve their goals through hard work.

Mr Rasheed said he was a student of the university in 1972 when polarisation on the campus was at its peak.

“The student unions were banned due to conflicts and the university had started losing its magnificence. However, the university has gained its glory again in recent years,” he said.

PU VC Prof Niaz Ahmad said that in 2018, the QS had ranked the PU at 232nd position in Asian ranking of the universities while it had been declared the 145th best university in Asia in 2021.

Earlier, Dr Kalyan Singh Kalyan, a Sikh student of Punjab University, obtained his PhD in Punjabi from the governor in the convocation. He is the first Sikh after the creation of Pakistan who did his PhD.

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2022